


sing to me ( i am not doing well )

by lonelyhumans



Series: old soldiers never die . . . and they don't fade away [1]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, cody and anakin are both a weird mix of soldier 76 and reaper, i'm Pretty Sure this still makes sense if you don't know overwatch, just not in this oneshot, obi-wan and fay are also mentioned but literally only once and twice respectively, palpatine is only there in mention but he's kinda important, the overwatch au literally no one asked for, there will be Eventual Romance between cody and anakin, you can get the main gist of it at least
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:09:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28903926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonelyhumans/pseuds/lonelyhumans
Summary: Overwatch’s golden era is coming to an end. Something is coming, and Blackwatch Commander Cody Fett is starting to learn that he can’t trust anybody, not even his close friend and fellow commander Anakin Skywalker. With the threat of Talon on the horizon, he tries to break through to him, a man he’s trusted to have his back for years on end, to no avail.Anakin Skywalker is drifting away, and he suspects UN Director Sheev Palpatine might have more to do with it then he would like to think. Too bad it’s too little, too late.
Relationships: CC-2224 | Cody & Anakin Skywalker, Sheev Palpatine & Anakin Skywalker
Series: old soldiers never die . . . and they don't fade away [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2119782
Kudos: 2





	sing to me ( i am not doing well )

**Author's Note:**

> howdy yall i've recently fallen into overwatch brainrot so naturally i decided to mix two of my favorite things which resulted in. this. it's also an excuse to write what is quickly becoming my favorite crackship canakin aka cody x anakin (thank you mello for enabling me). this oneshot itself is not shippy but there will be more in this series so the rest most certainly will be.
> 
> if you don't know overwatch this might be a bit confusing, so. good luck? this is my new favorite au though so i'm really hyped to get this started!!! enjoy <3 
> 
> title is taken from sing to me by missio and also there's a very brief description of losing a limb. not graphic at all it's just a mention

“Anakin, _listen to me_ ,” Cody can’t help the bite in his voice. He’s tired, exhausted rather, feet aching and muscles straining against every single one of his movements and he still has a whole pile of reports to go over before he can take the time to rest. Fay’s going to give him shit for skipping out on the infirmary, but he can’t be bothered to give a damn. He’s bruised, but he’ll live.

And he needs to speak to Anakin, who’s currently looking at him with suspicion in his eyes, arms crossed on his chest in the middle of the hallway Cody stopped him in like he has better things to do than talk to his friend. It hurts to see, Cody won’t lie. Anakin used to trust him with his life, would willingly let him watch his back and Cody the same for Anakin. How did they go from working like a well oiled machine to this? To snapping at each other in the halls, hands balled in fists?

“ _What_ , Cody? I have a meeting with Palpatine in a few minutes to update him on the situation in Venice. The situation _you_ caused, I might add,” Anakin’s eyes are hard, distrusting, and Cody frowns, but doesn’t flinch back. He’s faced death a million times, and as much as his heart aches at the loss of the shine in his friend’s eyes, he won’t let Anakin intimidate him. He’s not an enemy, as much as Anakin fails to see it nowadays, what with Palpatine’s hold on his career.

Not that Cody could bring up those concerns, not here where anyone could hear, and certainly not now, right before Anakin meets with the man who Cody’s starting to suspect more than ever. He needs to warn Anakin, but it’s getting harder and harder to get him alone these days, especially since Blackwatch has lost its edge as an unknown entity. Still—

“Something is happening. Something big. Venice was—” He sees Anakin’s eyes narrow, his mouth open in order to interrupt him and rushes to finish his words. “A _mistake_ and I’m _sorry_. I messed up. But there’s something else going on and I’m worried everything’s going to come crashing down on our heads,” Anakin doesn’t reply, simply clenches and unclenches his prosthetic arm, the mechanics whirring in a way that Cody used to find comforting, when it was the two of them and their small strike team, worried only about the enemies in front of their crosshairs, not the politics behind every little action.

“Anakin. Talon is planning something, and I suspect they have someone on the inside. We can’t let our guard down,” he’s not sure what he’s pleading for anymore, not sure if Anakin even cares about the intel he’s worked so hard to uncover over these past taxing months but he has to try. He knows they can take down Talon, knows he’s close to something _big_ , some vital information that will finally connect all the dots. But to do that he _needs_ Anakin on his side. He needs Anakin to trust him.

Had it been a year ago, he wouldn’t have doubted the man in front of him would listen. Now though . . .

Anakin looks tired, bags under his eyes darkening by the day while his moods get worse and worse. Cody’s heard Obi-Wan and Fay talking about it, concerning lacing their voices when they think he can’t hear them. Things are changing, _have_ _been_ changing for a while now, and he’s not sure he’s going to like what the final evolution will be. Palpatine’s been meeting with the strike commander more and more often as well, and he doesn’t doubt the influence that has on Anakin’s moods.

Anakin meets Cody’s eyes, a frown overtaking his once youthful face and emphasizing the scar running over his eye as he runs a hand over his face. Cody is only a few years older than him, but somehow Anakin manages to appear aged, like something’s sucking his life force out of him. And yet, at the same time he’s almost becoming _more_ immature and snappy, as if he doesn’t quite know how he’s supposed to act anymore.

Cody supposes that’s what a life in front of cameras and press conferences will do to. It almost makes him glad for Blackwatch’s anonymity. Not that he has that anymore.

“I know you have other things to worry about, but all my intel points to—”

“What would you have me do?” Anakin snaps. “Announce it to the whole of Overwatch, cause everyone to distrust each other? Interrogate every last person using the underhanded methods you’ve seem to become _so_ good at during your time with Blackwatch?” Cody narrows his own gaze back, refusing to let the dig get at him. He knows what Blackwatch has done, knows what people think of them, and he can accept something like that from an outsider. But from Anakin? Anakin, who apologized for taking his position from him despite Cody’s insistence that he didn’t want the spotlight anyway, who let Cody come to him when the job got too tough and he needed someone else who _understood_ what it was to be a commander with everyone relying on you? There was a line, and Anakin had _never_ crossed it before. Not until now.

His betrayal must show on his face because Anakin immediately freezes, something apologetic coming over his features. Cody forces down his feelings, forces back the hurt that spreads in his chest at the unfair accusations, and settles his face back down into something neutral, even as Anakin opens his mouth to apologize.

“If you have a problem with the way I run my own damn sector then perhaps you should talk to me, rather than your precious UN director,” a low-blow, and Cody knows it, feels it in the way Anakin’s gaze intensifies, anger bubbling underneath his clenched jaw, but he can’t be bothered to care, not now, when the goddamn Strike Commander of the whole of Overwatch claims to be inconvenienced by important information.

Anakin’s glaring at him now, muscles tense with a simmering rage Cody doesn’t remember him having back when he was fresh from the Soldier Enhancement Program, ready to save the world. What happened to the optimistic hero Cody used to know? What happened to the man who wouldn’t leave a friend behind, no matter the odds? Who saved his life time and time again?

“I’m late for my meeting,” is all he says in response, moving to push past Cody like he’s nothing, like he’s finally come to the conclusion that Blackwatch’s Commander is beneath him, the great Strike Commander Skywalker, golden boy of Overwatch. Cody never cared for the glory of the title, for the attention from the public back when he was the original Strike Commander, but Anakin’s become warped by it and it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth.

Back in the day, Anakin would have at least put off his meeting to discuss this with Cody further. Now he won’t even look Cody in the eye as he passes him. It’s almost tempting to grab him, slam him back against the wall and _make_ Anakin listen, but the insult to Blackwatch’s tactics echoes in his ears, the disdain Anakin voiced making a home in his chest next to the fondness for the man that threatens to crumble under this interaction.

When did things get so _wrong_?

“Anakin,” he might turn his back on Cody, but despite this, despite everything Cody will _never_ do the same to him. Even if Anakin crosses the line, Cody _won’t_. His loyalty cannot be touched by whatever distrust has come between them. He won’t let it, will fight tooth and nail to stop it if he has to. His tone finally reaches Anakin and he comes to a stop at the end of the hall. He turns halfway, watches Cody, rage mitigated only by whatever’s left of his trust in Cody, whatever unconscious thing still begs for Anakin to listen to his friend.

“Don’t trust anybody,” Cody says, voice steady, more serious than he’s ever been, more serious than the night they’d almost died, where the two of them had been bleeding out—Anakin’s arm completely gone and Cody’s face bleeding, the red iron liquid blinding his eyes—holding each other in what they thought was their last moments, certain that they would never be witnessed by another person again. Anakin must recognize the look because something in him shatters under Cody’s stare. For a moment, he’s the bright eyed recruit, the hero with no fear, Cody’s right hand who would follow him into hell. And then someone steps into the hall, hurrying one way or the other with reports and news and updates, and the moment fades. Anakin becomes Strike Commander Skywalker once again and turns, leaving Cody standing there in the hallway alone.

It’s the last time Cody talks to Anakin alone before the fall.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are always appreciated!! and hmu on tumblr (same user) if you wanna talk star wars, overwatch, whatever!!


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